Depress？o e qualidade de vida em jovens de 18 a 24 anos no sul do Brasil

objective: to investigate the association between depression and quality of life in young adults aged 18 to 24 years. method: this cross-sectional, population-based study included 1,560 young adults aged 18 to 24 years living in the urban area of pelotas, southern brazil. sample selection was based on cluster sampling: of a total of 448 sectors, 97 were randomly selected. depression was assessed using the mini-international neuropsychiatric interview (mini), and quality of life was measured using the medical outcomes study short-form general health survey (sf-36), both validated for use in brazilian portuguese. results: the prevalence of depression was 12.6%. mean scores obtained for quality of life in the eight domains assessed by sf-36 were lower in depressive young adults, reaching statistical significance in all domains when assessed using the t test (p = 0.000). conclusion: young adults with signs and symptoms suggestive of depression presented lower levels of quality of life based on the domains assessed.